GOAL hero Kevin Phillips admitted Villa had to "dig deep" to overcome the challenge of Championship side Burnley in the Carling Cup.

GOAL hero Kevin Phillips admitted Villa had to "dig deep" to overcome the challenge of Championship side Burnley in the Carling Cup.

The striker netted the only goal of the game in the 24th minute to earn Villa a place in the last 16.

Now he wants the narrow win to form a springboard for a run which turns round the team's stuttering season.

"It was not the most convincing of wins," Phillips said. "But any wins breeds confidence. We are in the hat for the next round and can also look forward to going up to Manchester City on Monday night.

"It was a tough game, as I knew it would be against any side managed by Steve Cotterill.

"I know Steve well from working with him at Sunderland and I knew he'd bring a team which would work very hard.

"They did that and although I thought we were the better side in the first-half, in the second, full credit to them, they pinned us back and we had to dig deep. But that's what we did and it was a massive win for us.

"After beating Blues we really wanted to build on that but we didn't manage to do it last Saturday. Now we've got a chance to start another run."

On a night when Villa's hard-earned success was rooted much more in efficiency than extravagance, a major plus was the return of Gavin McCann after injury.

"Gav's a great asset to us," said Phillips. "Now he's got 90 minutes under his belt and hopefully can push on from there. He gives us that extra bite in midfield and just goes about his job in a tremendous way.

"He doesn't get the credit he deserves, he knows that. But I know Gav well - that's the way he prefers it. He's so fit. He covers every inch of the pitch and then walks off it as though he's just been out for a stroll. Unlike me - I have to crawl off!"

Burnley boss Steve Cotterill knows all about Phillips from when he was assistant manager at one of his previous clubs in Sunderland.

He said: "We gave the wrong person the chance to score. Kevin Phillips scores goals and you can't let him have chances.

"With the goal he didn't panic and once he had composed himself I knew he was going to score. I know him very well and I waited for him at the final whistle to wish him all the best."